The Truth in the Subconscious
by Mikauzoran
Summary: When Aoko throws a surprise party on a heist night, Kaito tries his best to work the room and get out quick, but the weirdest things keep happening. Everybody is hitting on him, and he's starting to suspect he subconsciously has a thing for Shinichi.
1. Kaito's Birthday Nightmare

Mikau: Hey everyone! Welcome to newcomers and old friends alike. It's great to have you. This fic is the result of the poll I took back in May/June about _what_ romantically you wanted to see happen between Kaito and _whom _at his birthday party. It's probably nothing like what you're expecting. I kind of looked at the poll results, thought "Hmm. That's interesting," and then was inspired to write this. I hope you enjoy it anyway!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, it wouldn't have taken so long for Kaito and Hakuba to appear together in the same episode. Sure the Kid/Hakuba dynamic is great, but nothing beats Kaito and Saguru quarreling before class.

….

He had a heist that night, but Aoko had pleaded with him incessantly to drop by her party, so Kaito had finally given in. He could refuse her nothing, and the magician figured that it would be easy to slip in one door, schmooze and make mischief for a quarter of an hour, and then sneak out the back without anyone being the wiser.

It seemed like the perfect plan until he arrived at Aoko's and everyone jumped out of the woodworks, shouting, "Surprise!"

"Happy Birthday, Kaito!" Aoko giggled, blowing a horn in his face. "Were you surprised?"

"Yeah, with an ugly girl like you springing out at him, any guy would be surprised." Kaito clicked his tongue.

Aoko puffed out her cheeks and balled her hands into fists. "Jerk! You should be nicer when Aoko went out of her way to throw you a party. You never celebrate your birthday, and you forget about it unless Aoko reminds you. She was doing you a favor."

"Well, maybe I just don't feel like celebrating. Besides, I never asked you to throw a party for me," Kaito snapped, unable to tell the girl he loved what he really meant.

She turned on her heel with a little "Humph" and stormed off.

Kaito sighed.

All he'd really wanted to say was "Thank you."

At least now that Aoko was ticked, she'd leave him alone, and it would be a lot easier to sneak out.

That's what he'd initially thought, anyway.

It was then that a pair of amber eyes caught his from across the room, and their owner sauntered towards him, staring him down, much like a jungle cat stalking its prey.

The taller teen sized Kaito up for a minute before smirking.

"Kuroba," the detective greeted civilly.

"Hakuba," Kaito returned in a low growl.

The blonde motioned for his rival to follow as he made his way to one of the back rooms.

Kaito did so cautiously.

Hakuba softly closed the door behind them and went to take a seat on the guestroom bed. "Do make yourself comfortable," he chuckled.

The birthday boy stood stiffly by the door, his back to the wall. "Just what are you plotting, Hakuba? Scheming up a new way to 'prove' that I'm Kid?" Kaito hissed.

The European sleuth laughed, leaning back slightly and crossing his legs at the knee. "No, no. Nothing of the sort. Not tonight, anyway. A gentleman would never incarcerate someone on their birthday. The day after, maybe, but not the day of."

The blonde's moral code had always befuddled the thief.

"Then…what are we doing here?"

"I had wanted to give you a present," the Brit confessed, "but first there's something I'd like to ask you."

Kaito glared. This sounded familiar.

"Why do you treat Aoko-kun so badly when it's obvious that you fancy her? Are you really so juvenile that you express your affection by bullying her? That's a little fourth grade, if you asked me. Or…could it be something else? Maybe that you're protecting her by keeping your distance? If so, it's very noble of you. I applaud your willpower." Hakuba smiled like a crocodile.

"How I treat Aoko is none of your business," the magician replied flippantly, pouring on the poker face.

"Very well. Just curious," the detective chuckled, seeming to very much enjoy his classmate's reactions.

"Look, I've gotta go, so if you've got something to say, hurry up and say it," Kaito sighed, quickly growing impatient with his rival.

"Worried about being late to your heist? You have several hours; there's really no rush, Kuroba," Saguru assured. "Or could it be that you still have some preparations to do? You could probably get away with less prep tonight, since I won't be attending and I also happened to see your little grade school friend here as well."

Kaito gave his classmate a wry look. "I'm leaving, Hakuba."

"Right," the detective sighed, getting to his feet and fishing a pocket scrapbook from his jacket. "This is for you."

Kaito reached for the book as if he were afraid it would bite him.

"I took it upon myself to find magazine articles and newspaper clippings about the original Kaitou 1412. I complied them all into that scrapbook for your birthday, since I figured that it would mean something to you…either because the original was likely someone close to you—for example, your father who passed away around the time that the first Kid disappeared—or because you're the present Kid's biggest fan and would most likely be interested in the history…judging by how much you enjoy following the current Kid in the papers, anyway. Regardless, the research was a good experience for me."

Kaito was stunned, almost speechless, as he flipped through the book, gazing at his father in uniform.

"Thank you," he mumbled. "This must have taken days, Hakuba."

"Yes, but you seem to like it…and, like I said, the research was beneficial," the detective replied, trying to hide his pleasure at finding that his gift was appreciated.

"Thank you. You didn't have to do this," Kaito reiterated in earnest.

Saguru endeavored not to smile. "I wanted to…. I mean, it was just a whim, but…happy birthday, Kuroba."

"Yours is in two months?" He seemed to remember that from Hakuba's long-winded self-introduction; the detective had sure made himself easy to impersonate.

"Yes, but I expect there won't be a party." The blonde struggled internally with his emotions—pure bliss that the magician had remembered his birthday and aching sadness that no one else would, save his caretaker. "However, if you'd like to give a gift, I wouldn't say no, if you show up in my room in handcuffs."

"I'm _not_ Kid," Kaito snorted, and Saguru was actually quite relieved that the thief hadn't picked up on the double entendre.

"Of course you're not," the taller boy chuckled, summoning all of his courage as he stood and strode across the room. "But, Kuroba, even though I won't apprehend you tonight out of common courtesy, don't forget that someday, you _will_ be mine." Saguru took a deep breath before leaning in and placing a chaste kiss on Kaito's cheek.

Hakuba was out the door and gone before Kaito regained his composure.

Actually, Kaito's composure took its sweet time coming back.

He spent a good ten minutes screaming "WTF?!" and replaying the entire scene over again—this time with the knowledge that his rival had a thing for him. He was a little disturbed to find that their conversation had been dripping with homosexual undertones.

"What the hell?" he sighed, banging his head against the wall for the sixth time.

He finally came to terms with the fact that he'd never be able to look that blonde git in the eye again and made his way back to the living room where the rest of the party-goers were dancing and drinking punch. He had a lot of schmoozing to do before he could make his getaway.

"Kaito-kun!" Momoi Keiko gasped as the magician in question nearly bowled her over.

"Keiko-chan." Kaito blinked, and his mind got back in gear at last. "Sorry. I was kinda distracted, so I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," the pigtailed girl gulped, biting her lip and squeezing her punch cup nervously. "Um…Kaito-kun, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about these past couple months, but the timing never seemed right. Do you have a minute?"

"Uh, sure. What's up?" Kaito's brow furrowed as he grabbed a glass of punch and turned back to his crush's best friend. "Something wrong?"

"Not…wrong, exactly, but…it's not right either." Keiko took a deep breath and looked her friend right in the eye. "Kaito-kun, I know you like Aoko-chan, and I know that, deep down, she likes you too, even though she's clueless and she won't admit it, but…Kaito-kun, somewhere along the line, I fell for you too. I just realized it a couple months ago, and it was never the right time to say anything, but…Kaito-kun, I really like you. Will you go out with me?"

For the second time in one night, Kaito's brain melted.

He blinked.

Hakuba liked him.

Did he like Hakuba?

No, but the guy was decent sometimes. They could continue to be friends without much difficulty as long as the sleuth didn't try anything too gay on him.

Keiko also liked him.

Did he like Keiko?

No, not really. She was fun to hang out with, and she wasn't _not_ pretty, but he'd never really seen her as a girl before.

He'd only ever noticed Aoko, and it wouldn't do to fool around with her best friend in the meantime while Aoko got her own feelings straightened out.

"I'm really sorry, Keiko-chan. You're really great, but…you already know how I feel. Maybe if it doesn't work with Aoko, but…I've already given my heart to someone else."

"I-I understand." Keiko nodded and ran off before our hero could say another word.

He let her go, thinking it best to leave her alone.

Girls had their way of dealing with things like this, and it was best if he let the process run its natural course.

He took a sip of the punch and began to wander through the crowd of undulating bodies.

"Shinichi?" a vaguely familiar female voice called out as someone tapped him on the shoulder. "It _is_ you!"

He turned and found himself enveloped in a bone-crushing hug, courtesy of Mouri Ran.

"Shinichi, where have you been?" the karate champ whined. "I've been waiting for you! Always waiting!" She was clearly intoxicated.

"Sorry, but I think you have me confused with someone else," Kaito explained, trying to wriggle out of the dangerous woman's firm grasp. "I'm Kaito—Kuroba Kaito!"

"Shinichi, don't you dare start lying to me!" Ran shrieked, wrapping her legs around the poor magician's waist. "You're not gonna run off again, you hear?! We're going to a church and getting married. Right now!" she hollered.

Kaito turned milk white. "Seriously, Lady, I'm not your man!" Even if she _did_ look a great deal like Aoko, our hero would not be swayed.

"Ran!" A blonde girl that Kaito recognized from Old Man Suzuki's heists called out to her friend (who was currently climbing Kaito like a palm tree). "Ran, that's not Shinichi. That's Aoko-chan's boyfriend, Kuroba-kun. It's _his_ birthday we're celebrating."

"It is?" Ran blinked, pulling back a bit to take a better look at the boy she was molesting. "It is!" she cried. "I'm so sorry! I thought you were someone else!" The brunette blushed and quickly detangled herself from the magician.

"Don't worry about it," Kaito laughed awkwardly, forcing himself to smile.

Ran bowed but nearly fell over.

"Ran, you're so drunk!" the Suzuki girl—Sonoko, he finally remembered—chortled, grabbing her friend's arm to help support her. "Sorry about her," the blonde laughed. "Happy Birthday!"

Kaito squeaked when he found his bum being pinched.

"Where's Conan-kun?" He heard Ran mutter as Sonoko carried her away.

Kaito hoped that he wouldn't find out; this night was draining enough without the little pipsqueak to liven things up further.

The last thing Kaito needed was that little shinigami bringing him a corpse for his birthday like some kind of cat presenting his master with his latest kill. No, Kaito preferred gift-cards to Starbucks or iTunes. Heck, he'd even take clothes or a lewd gag gift at this point!

With a lead-laced sigh, the magician collapsed onto the couch.

"Rough night?" the tan young man sitting on the couch next to him chuckled.

Kaito looked up, but he didn't recognize the other teen.

Who did he know that spoke with an Osakan accent?

"Yeah," he breathed, deciding not to worry about it. "I think there's something in the punch."

"Ha! There's definitely somethin' in the punch; this is a party, for cryin' out loud!"

Kaito liked this guy's laugh. It was loud and warm and completely genuine.

"Cheers!" the stranger chuckled, holding up his own glass of punch.

"Cheers." Kaito shrugged and gave in, clinking his glass against his couchmate's.

When in Rome and all that.

"You're the birthday boy, Kuroba, aren't cha? I'm Hattori Heiji." Hattori had a nice smile too.

"That detective from Osaka?" Now he knew why the other teen looked vaguely familiar; he'd worked the egg case with Tantei-kun that time Kid'd almost been killed by Scorpion. "Nice to meet you."

"Right back at cha," Hattori laughed again, grabbing Kaito's hand and shaking it. It was a nice, solid shake. "I bet yer wonderin' why I'm here, but I came with Mouri Ran and her crew. I'm supposed t' be watchin' Ku—Conan-kun, but the little guy's scampered off somewhere. He can take care of himself."

Kaito nodded, wondering if Hattori made the "Kudo" slip-up often. "You probably only have to worry about him getting stepped on."

"Yeah," Hattori sighed, glancing around at the dancers that packed the entire main room. They were almost being danced on top of. "Crazy drunks." He took another sip of his punch. "Wanna play a game?"

"Sure." Kaito shrugged. He had nothing better to do while he waited for an opportunity to spit. "Why not?"

"Gotta deck a cards?"

"I _always_ have a deck of cards," Kaito snickered, fanning out a pack in each hand.

"Very nice." The Great Detective of the West nodded in genuine appreciation of the magician's craft. "Whadda ya wanna play? Rummy? Poker? Go Fish?"

Kaito shivered. "How about Poker? Five Card Draw okay with you? It'll go quick."

"Sounds perfect," Hattori laughed again, letting Kaito shuffle and deal.

After they'd played a hand or two, the laidback detective started to make conversation. "Did ya get what ya wanted for your birthday?"

"Yes and no." Kaito shrugged, rearranging his cards. "I didn't want anything…didn't expect anything, so what I got was…good and bad. This guy…he's kind of my friend, kind of my personal pain in the butt…gave me a really great gift, but then I found out something I didn't want to know. There's been a lot of unwanted attentions too, thanks to the spiked drinks…. I never asked for a party, but it was nice that people thought to throw one."

"It's always nice when people go out of their way for ya," Hattori hummed, laying down a straight.

Kaito smirked and showed his royal straight flush.

Hattori frowned. "Hn. I'll be. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were cheating."

Kaito smiled innocently. "Wanna play something else?"

"How about Go Fish? Can't cheat at Go Fish," his companion reasoned.

Kaito shuddered. "I can't play that game."

Hattori raised an eyebrow at the lighter-haired brunette.

"I'm afraid of the title character," Kaito admitted begrudgingly.

Hattori laughed, but not in the mocking way that Kaito was accustomed to. "Seriously? That's adorable. Why?"

"Freak aquarium accident when I was really little." Kaito looked away, shifting so that he was sitting back on his haunches like a dog. "I don't consciously remember it, but my mom told me a couple years ago. Apparently someone dumped a body into one of the tanks, and I saw the f-fish chowin' down on the corpse."

"Geez," the Osakan snorted. "That'd turn anyone off the little guys. Sorry."

"'S okay," Kaito chuckled, shuffling once more. "How about playing War?"

"Sounds great." Hattori watched his new friend's quick hand movements with great interest while the magician divided the cards. "So…you got a girlfriend?"

"Ha. I wish," Kaito snorted back. "You?"

"I have a girl that's a friend, but…it's complicated." Hattori pursed his lips.

"I hear ya," Kaito laughed bitterly.

"There's also somebody else I like," Hattori whispered. "But…they're already in a serious relationship, and nothin' I do can get me between them."

"Sorry," Kaito mumbled back. "That must be rough."

"Un," Hattori grunted, taking a big gulp of the punch. "I think this stuff is finally getting' t' me…. Anyone ever tell you you look like Kudo Shinichi?"

"Yes, actual—" Kaito began but soon found his mouth full of Hattori's.

The bigger boy pushed him down and smothered him with the kiss.

That was the third time Kaito's brain shut down that night…or maybe it was the fourth…or fifth…he was losing track.

By the time Hattori let up, Kaito was nearly unconscious, so he didn't really hear the apologies and excuses and pleas for forgiveness.

He cursed his similarity in appearance to Kudo for the second time that evening and stumbled off to seek shelter in the hall.

"Hohoho…I saw that," another regrettably familiar female voice chuckled. "I never would have guessed that the reason you failed to succumb to my feminine charms would be that you preferred…the less fair sex."

"Hello, Akako-chan," Kaito sighed, rolling his eyes. "Sorry, but I'm not in the mood for your brand of nonsense right now; come back and try to hex me later."

"Not in the mood?" the witch pouted, backing Kaito up against the wall. "You looked pretty in the mood a minute ago." She chuckled again, running her hands up and down her crush's biceps.

"Dammit, Akako," Kaito hissed, shaking her off and turning his back to her.

"Do you think anybody else saw that?" he whispered over his shoulder, blushing madly.

"Oh, Honey, _everybody_ saw that," she laughed, rubbing his shoulders from behind.

"Even Aoko?" Kaito held his breath.

The hands on his back paused momentarily before returning to their work tracing patterns along his shoulder blades. "No. Nakamori-san didn't see."

"Lair," Kaito sighed, giving in and enjoying the free massage. "Did she look repulsed?"

"Mostly shocked. Her face went completely white. Then it changed to red, almost purple." Akako took the opportunity to lean in closer and take a deep inhale of Kaito's sugary, vanilla scent.

"Just great," the thief muttered. "Shoot me now."

"…Speaking of which…just…who are those people that have been shooting at you recently?" the witch asked quietly. "My good friend Lucifer wouldn't tell me anything about them."

"What are you talking about, Akako?" Kaito played dumb.

The redhead simmered in quiet rage at the man she regrettably loved. "I've saved your bacon before, and you know it. Don't even pretend for a second that I'm batty. I _know_ who you are."

"I told you, I'm not in the mood, Akako," Kaito hissed, detaching himself from the witch and walking off.

"Fine!" she hurled after him. "Get yourself killed! See if I care!"

She took a deep breath and sighed. "You idiot. I won't cry over you."

Kaito was about to make his escape when the back door swung open just before he could grip the handle. He blinked.

An extremely inebriated Nakamori-keibu stumbled in, running right into a very startled Kaito.

"Toichi!" the officer hiccupped in surprise. "You finally have the decency t' come t' see me after playin' dead all these years!

Apparently the low lighting and the copious amounts of alcohol the inspector had ingested made Kaito look the spitting image of his father.

"You think I'm just gonna take you back? I'm sure you had a damn good reason, but it killed me when you died. Killed me!" the drunk howled.

Kaito was about to try to calm his (hopefully) future father-in-law when said policeman cut him off.

"And yer kid! Your boy went through hell, Toichi! And what were you doin'? Playing super hero!"

Kaito was speechless.

Nakamori had known.

"Listen, I don't mind chasing ya at all hours, but go home to yer family, Toichi. What we had was great, but it's over now. Your wife and kid need ya, Toichi, so let's keep this strictly business," the inspector mumbled, passing out.

Kaito eased Nakamori-keibu's unconscious form to the floor and left him to sleep it off.

Kaito needed a glass of water.

Putting his brain on autopilot, the magician made his way to the kitchen and pulled a glass out of the cabinet.

"Kuroba Kaito, I presume?" a detestably familiar voice purred.

Kaito jumped at the unexpected noise, dropping his glass.

"Oops." Edogawa Conan chuckled nervously as the cup shattered. "Sorry. I didn't think you'd drop it; you're not usually so skittish."

The thief inhaled and exhaled very slowly as he picked up the glass fragments, trying to restore his shattered composure. He stood and turned to gaze in confusion at the little detective sitting on top of the kitchen counter.

"Sorry, have we met before, kid?" Kaito asked levelly.

"Come on. Surely you haven't forgotten about little ole me, have you? …Kaitou Kid?" The creepy eight year-old smirked.

Kaito blinked three times. "'Scuse me?"

Conan frowned. "It's me. Edogawa Conan…tantei sa…. Remember? We met that night on the roof…during the Black Star case. I chase you all the time! You can't have forgotten about me!"

Kaito continued to play dumb. "Edogawa Conan? Sorry, little boy. I don't think we've met before. Where's your mom?"

"I get it," the shrunken teen announced, sounding very much eight years old. "You're just _pretending_ that you don't recognize me in order to protect your cover!"

Kaito smirked, leaning up against the countertop on his forearms. "Oh, I see. Are we playing a game? If I'm the Kaitou Kid, are you Detective Hakuba? Where's your Sherlock Holmes outfit, Tantei-san?"

Conan pursed his lips and stared flatly at his nemesis. "You know, there's no use pretending, Kid. I know it's you. I knew the minute I first saw you. You look just like me; who else could impersonate me without a mask so easily?"

"Kid, I couldn't impersonate you if I tried. No one could pretend to be that short," Kaito chuckled, getting out a different glass and filling it with Nakamori's secret stash of rum.

"You're not old enough to drink," Conan mumbled, not liking this side of his rival very much. He'd always imagined that Kid would be…well, different.

"Neither is anyone else here, yet they're all hosed. Why shouldn't I be too? It's _my_ party, after all. Besides…I need this." Kaito downed the entire glass and poured more. "This is nasty."

"Rough day?"

"The last guy that asked me that stuck his tongue down my throat," Kaito snorted, nursing his drink. "I'd say things are leaning a little on the side of catastrophic at this point."

Conan blinked. "A guy kissed you?"

"Yeah. Your Osakan friend. Give him a try when you're older; he's good." Kaito let his head thunk against the marble counter. "And he wasn't even the first. Hakuba pecked me on the cheek, and then my crush's best friend asked me out, and then your big sister thought I was my cousin and glomped me. She was about to drag me off to a chapel when her obnoxious friend came and pinched my butt. It's…it's been a long night already."

Conan blinked. "Ran-neechan thought you were your cousin?" Shinichi was about ready to hunt this guy down and take him out. "Who's your cousin?" Who was this man who had swayed his love's affections?

"His name is Kudo Shinichi," Kaito snickered. "He's a famous detective; you heard of him?"

The look on Conan's face was priceless. "You're…you're Shinichi-niichan's cousin?!"

Apparently Kudo hadn't known a thing about Kaito.

"Yeah, well, actually he's kind of my third cousin. Our fathers are the ones that are cousins. His dad is my second cousin, and he's my third cousin. I haven't seen him in person in years, but we used to play together all the time. It's kind of funny since we were inseparable at the time."

"Really?" Conan leaned in as Kaito drained his second glass of rum and went for a third.

"Yeah," Kaito chuckled, beginning to feel kind of good—light-headed and bubbly. "I think we were probably in love."

"What?!" the super sleuth croaked. "Wh-Wh-Why would you say that?!"

"No, listen. It's true!" the magician laughed. "When we'd play doctor, he'd take my clothes off and touch me all over. We'd roll around naked, sleep together in a bundle of limbs, and even bathe together. We even played house where we'd get married and kiss; he made me be the wife, since he was older. It was mostly just innocent fun, since we were little and had no clue what we were doing, but deep down, I think we were in love."

Conan's face was bright red.

"I wonder if he remembers; I haven't seen him since we were kids," Kaito mused, wondering if Kudo could sort through what Kaito had made up on the spot and what had actually happened.

Shinichi didn't remember any of this.

"Would you be sad if he didn't?"

Kaito nodded, sipping at his rum. "I am kind of sad. Ya see, I lied. I _have_ seen him; it was just two years ago when I went to Beika to pick up some parts. I'd walked there to save money, but I was takin' the train home 'cause the parts were heavy. I was standing on the platform, waiting, when he came up and stood beside me; he was with some girl—probably your neechan. I knew it was him right away, but I couldn't say anything. My voice just stuck in my throat, so I just stared, hoping that he'd turn and see me and say, 'Kai-chan?!'"

"Did he turn and see you?" Conan asked quietly, knowing full well what happened next.

"Yeah. He raised an eyebrow and frowned at me before going back to chatting with his girlfriend. He glanced back at me a couple times 'cause I was still staring, and then he and the girl moved to wait for a different car. He doesn't remember me at all." Kaito put down his now empty glass and sighed. He let his head join the glass on the countertop. "Don't worry; I'm used to it. I've never been lucky in love. I've used all of mine elsewhere."

"Y-You still love him?" Conan swallowed hard.

"No freaking clue. That day on the train platform I felt…all discombobulated when I saw him again. I've got someone else now, but…I definitely felt something when our eyes met. I don't think I'm currently in love with him, but there's something there between us. I don't think he'd have to try hard to make me fall for him, and that fact kinda scares me, ya know? I always thought I was straight, but…I guess it just takes the right person. To think he has that kind of power over me, and he doesn't even…he doesn't even know who I am."

The kitchen fell silent as the party droned on in the background.

Conan sat there, quietly contemplating what he'd been told.

Kaito let his head rest against the cool marble of the counter. "Why am I talking about things like this with a little kid?"

"Because you're not as happy as you pretend to be and you're drunk," the little detective supplied an answer.

"Am I? I don't think I've ever been drunk before. Is this what it feels like?" Kaito chuckled.

"Guess so," Conan sighed, remembering when he'd been drunk. "I guess you're a sad drunk."

"Hmm," the thief hummed pensively. "Dammit! I forgot; I have work tonight!"

"On your birthday?" Shinichi silently wondered why Kid had scheduled a heist on a personal holiday.

"My job's important, but I guess I'll have to call in sick or something," Kaito sighed, digging out his phone and texting one of his assistants: "im durnk can u go n 2 work 4 me?"

In a matter of seconds he got back a text that said: "…."

Thirty seconds later he received: "…Fine. You okay, Kiddo? That's really not like you. Need to talk?"

Kaito sloppily typed back, "its 6/21"

"Your dad would want you to celebrate your birthday. We'll talk later," was all he got in return.

"Maybe you should eat something?" Conan suggested, desperately trying to change the topic. "You're gonna feel really sick if all you've got in your stomach is alcohol. Want me to make you a sandwich or get you some cake or something?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Thanks, kid," Kaito sighed, starting to feel a little ill. He made a mental note: two glasses of rum = good; three glasses of rum = bad.

"You're starting to look a little green," the sleuth observed. "Let me get you something."

Conan turned and began to climb to reach the bread on the top shelf.

His foot slipped, sending the young boy hurtling towards the floor.

Kaito's alcohol-addled brain jumped into action, directing his body to vault over the counter and dive for his smallest rival.

He caught the grade schooler before he hit the ground, but their heads clunked together, and somehow or another they ended up lip-locked.

Both boys froze, and, thanks in part to Kaito's terrible luck in love, Aoko picked that precise moment to come in to get more refreshments.

She shrieked when she saw what appeared to be her crush forcing himself on a little boy.

Kaito's head jerked up at the noise, and his face blanched in absolute horror. "Aoko, this isn't what it looks like!"

"I fell, and he saved me!" Conan added.

"By giving you mouth-to-mouth?!" Aoko squealed, grabbing a conveniently placed mop and brandishing it.

Even though Kaito's mind was a little impaired by the alcohol consumption, his body was ready, thanks to muscle memory.

He took off, back into the main room, with a somersault, followed by a cartwheel and then a backwards flip.

His drunken classmates cheered at the spectacle; they'd been waiting for this all night.

A few minutes later, a blood-curdling scream put a damper on the fun. "Yamada-kun's dead!"

Silence reigned for an entire minute until Hakuba, Hattori, and Conan were able to push their way to the front of the crowd and begin their work.

They cleared the scene quickly (with minimal bickering between the Brit and the Osakan) and called the police before beginning their own investigations.

Kaito simply stood to the side in silence. He'd once pranked Yamada. (Okay, maybe two or three or four times.) But now Yamada was dead.

It was kind of sobering, seeing first-hand that someone their age could just die like that.

The doorbell rang, and someone nearby moved to open it.

Kaito couldn't see the person at the door or the person who had answered it thanks to the swarm of people stuffed into Aoko's living room.

The newcomer pushed his way to the front and shouted, "Tanaka-san! The killer is you!"

Everyone blinked collectively and turned to stare at the one who had made such an outlandish claim.

It was none other than the famous detective Kudo Shinichi himself.

Kaito looked back and forth between Kudo and Conan. He was pretty sure the alcohol was making him see double.

"Now hold on just a moment," Hakuba snorted (in a dignified manner, of course). "How could you know that? You've just arrived!"

"Conan-kun filled me in," the Detective of the East announced, seemingly searching the crowd and paying little attention to the blonde. "You should probably restrain him until the police get here."

Shinichi spotted his target and smirked.

Kaito blinked.

His cousin was staring him straight in the eye and approaching quickly. "Kaito," he whispered, sweeping the shorter teen off of his feet and kissing him hungrily.

Aoko shrieked.

Hattori made plans to surreptitiously eliminate Kuroba Kaito.

Hakuba made plans to covertly make Kudo Shinichi disappear permanently.

Kaito melted. He may have even moaned; he didn't quite remember afterwards.

Shinichi released the birthday boy's lips and smiled softly. "Remember what we promised, Kai-chan? When we were older we'd get married for real."

"Excuse me for being rude," the blonde detective hissed, "but unhand him at once, you pompous smeghead! You can't get married in Japan; it's illegal."

"We'll go to America. There are some states there that'd do it," Shinichi informed them, wrapping his arm more tightly around Kaito's waist.

"You can't take Kaito away to America!" Aoko squeaked, a mix of conflicting emotions at the moment.

"Oi, Kudo!" Hattori called out to his crush. "What about Neechan? What the hell are you doing?"

"Oh. Hey, Hattori! Good to see you. I know it's a little weird, but I've loved Kaito since I was really little. I tried to forget about him, since our love could never be, but…I just can't get him out of my head, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," the Osakan detective sighed.

"So…will you marry me, Kaito?" Shinichi turned back to look softly at his intended.

"Okay." Kaito blushed as the two syllables left his lips.

What had gotten into him? This was crazy! It was the alcohol talking.

He then found himself being carried bridal-style into the guestroom in back and thrown down on the bed.

"Wanna play doctor?" Shinichi chuckled, turning off the light.

000

Kaito's eyes slowly slid open, and the sunlight almost blinded him.

He groaned.

He blinked, remembering what had happened the night before.

His face went as white as rice powder, and he held his breath as he slowly looked over his shoulder.

He was alone in bed.

Kaito frowned slightly and looked around, gathering clues.

He was alone in his own bed, in his own room, in his slightly damp pajamas.

He lifted up his shirt and searched for any sign of bruising or teeth marks, but his flesh was unblemished.

He sighed. "Dammit." Eighteen years old and still a virgin—acceptable for a girl, but not so desirable for a guy.

He checked the date on his phone: 6/18. He still had three days before he became an old maid, but…that had been a _weird_ dream.

He'd once heard that dreams were the way the subconscious sorted things out; perhaps his subconscious was trying to tell him something? Like Keiko-chan had a crush on him or Hakuba's obsession with him should be taken seriously or that Kudo and Conan weren't really one and the same or possibly even that Kaito kind of sort of had a thing for guys?

The magician shivered at the thought.

Maybe he was over-analyzing. Everyone in his dream had been hot for him. Maybe his subconscious was trying to tell him that he was a narcissist. Maybe it meant he should stop flirting with everyone.

Kaito rolled over and grabbed his stuffed llama, seriously considering the creature's fuzzy little face. "What do you think, Sassy? Am I gay? Bi? A narcissist? Over-analyzing?"

The llama said nothing, but at that moment, Kaito's phone dinged, alerting him that he had received a text.

"I've got some parts for you to pick up whenever you're free," it read.

It was from Chrisy, his miracle worker.

Suddenly he was reminded of the text he had received from her in the dream. His dad would want him to celebrate his birthday, even though it had been the day the great magician had died.

His subconscious was trying to tell him something that he had known but hadn't been able to accept: it was okay to move on and be happy. Maybe that was what the dream had really been about.

He picked up his phone and dialed Aoko.

She answered on the first ring.

"I'm having a birthday party; can you come?" he said before she could even say "Hello?"

Aoko paused, wondering if she had heard correctly.

Kaito hadn't had a birthday party since his dad had died. Usually he spent the day alone, hiding somewhere she had yet to find no matter how hard she had looked.

"Can you come?" he asked again when she didn't reply.

"A birthday party for _yourself_?" Aoko confirmed.

"Yeah. At my house at, like, six." He bit his lip.

"Why all of the sudden? Kaito never has birthday parties." Aoko raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"I just felt like…it was time. I mean, the only birthday party I remember was…I think he'd want me to have a party…. Can you come?"

"Aoko will bring the cake!" his friend cried in glee.

Next he called up the majority of the classmates he had in his phonebook including Keiko-chan, Yamada, Tanaka, Watanabe, and even Akako-chan after careful consideration.

He paused when he came to an unmarked entry. He nibbled thoughtfully on his lip before shooting her a text that read: "Hey, I'm having a birthday party at my house at six, if you want to come. I know you usually go to Dad's grave, but…if you get done early and feel like stopping by, you're invited. It must take a long time cleaning and arranging all of those flowers; maybe I could give you a hand."

It took a full minute for Chrisy to respond. "I just leave the chrysanthemums. A lot of people come to help out, so it doesn't take long at all to do the cleaning. Your dad was important to a lot of people. We all have a picnic afterwards…. I'll come to the party. Feel free to come to the picnic, but there will be a lot of people you probably don't remember pinching your cheeks and cooing over how big you've gotten. Just so you know, Kiddo."

"Thanks, Kiku-chan."

He went through his phonebook once more to make sure he hadn't forgotten anyone, and there was Hakuba's number.

He pressed call before he could change his mind.

"Hello?" the sleuth asked tentatively. "Hakuba Saguru speaking," he informed the caller, expecting his classmate to apologize for calling the wrong number.

"Hey, Hakuba. This is Kuroba," Kaito started hesitantly.

"I know. I have your number, but…may I ask why you have mine?" This was highly confusing. How did the magician get his number, and why, pray tell, was he calling?

"Uh…I saved it when you called me from Paris that one time," Kaito explained, feeling like _he_ should be the one asking how _his_ number was obtained. Stalker.

"Oh. I see," the Englishman muttered, a bit out of sorts. Why had his rival saved his number? "Did you need something, Kuroba?"

"Yeah. I'm having a birthday party on the twenty-first at six at my house. Can you come? I mean, you don't have to, if you don't wanna, and you don't have to bring a gift or anything even if you do come, but…I just thought…if you don't have anything else to do, come, okay? It's just gonna be food and cake and games and dancing, and you may not like that sort of thing, but just come for half an hour, if you can."

Saguru blinked. He'd never been to a birthday party before, but Kuroba Kaito had gone out of his way to specially invite him.

"Actually, I think I will come. Thank you for inviting me, Kuroba," he replied after a few minutes of consideration.

"Really? Great. Sure. No problem. I'm glad you can come. See ya then."

Well, that had been a little awkward what with the image of dream Hakuba pushing him up against a wall and pecking him on the cheek still fresh in his mind, but he'd done it, and that was the important thing.

All that was left was the Kudo problem to deal with.

He jumped out of bed, into the shower, and then into some clothes before heading down to breakfast.

"Morning, Honey," Chikage greeted from where she sat at the kitchen table reading the paper.

"Hey, Mom." A thought suddenly occurred to the young thief. "Uh…hey, Mom? Would you be mad if I kind of invited a bunch of people over for a party?"

Chikage blinked. "A party. Here."

Kaito nodded. "Yeah, I probably should have asked you first, but I kind of did it on a whim, so…sorry. Are you mad?"

Chikage didn't need to say anything; her glare said it all. "When's the party?"

"The twenty-first at six." Kaito bit his lip nervously, just waiting for his mom to blow a gasket.

Chikage blinked again. "The _twenty-first_?"

Kaito nodded.

"You're having a _birthday_ party?"

Kaito nodded. "Is that okay?"

"Honey, that's wonderful!" his mother exclaimed.

"So, I can have the party?" Kaito's eyes lit up.

"Of course you can have the party! It's your _birthday_, Honey. You're supposed to celebrate!" Chikage was already planning the whole thing in her head.

"Yeah. I kind of get that now," Kaito sighed, getting out the cereal and taking a seat. "Dad would want me to have fun, wouldn't he?"

"Of course he would," Chikage assured softly.

"I'm gonna go visit him too. With my friend Chrisy and some other people she knows that knew Dad."

Chikage blinked. "Just…don't ask them any questions, Kaito—no matter how strange or suspicious they seem." There were still some things about her husband that her child probably wasn't ready to know. "Promise?"

Kaito looked up from his corn flakes. He shrugged. "Promise. Hey, Mom? Do you have the Kudos' number still? I wanted to try to get back in touch with Shin-chan, but I don't really know how to go about doing it now that he's all famous."

"I'll…have to see if I can get it from Yuki-chan. I haven't spoken to her for ages…since your father…and then they moved to America. I'll see what I can do, but you may have to write him a letter and hope it doesn't get lost in his fan-mail. You could possibly even go over to his house and surprise him, but I'll try to get his number for you."

"Thanks, Mom," Kaito chuckled, knowing that dropping in for a visit wouldn't be very fruitful since "Kudo Shinichi" wouldn't be home.

Chikage did, however, manage to get ahold of Auntie Yukiko and procure Shinichi's cell number, and Kaito was able to text him the very next day.

"Hey there. This is your dad's cousin's kid, Kuroba Kaito. Remember me? We used to play together all the time when we were kids, but we haven't seen each other in years. Well, I guess that's not true since I see you all the time on TV, but… Anyway, I got your number from your mom, in case you were wondering. I was just texting to see if you'd maybe want to get back in touch. I mean, we don't have to hang out or anything, if you don't want, but maybe we could call or text each other?"

Kaito sighed. He sounded like a smitten school girl.

"I just figured that since we were so close when we were young, we might be good friends now that we're a little older. Uh…here's a picture of me now, by the way. Just text me back, if you feel like it. Have a great day!"

He spent nearly half an hour writing and rewriting before finally hitting the send button when Chikage called him down for dinner.

With another sigh so full of angst it could only come from a teenager, he tossed his phone down on the bed and proceeded downstairs.

After dinner, Kaito quickly finished up his math and worked a little more on planning for his party.

At nearly nine thirty, his phone dinged, startling him.

It was just Aoko asking what kind of cake he wanted, but it was then that he noticed that he'd received another text while he'd been downstairs eating.

It was from Kudo Shinichi.

Holding his breath, Kaito slowly pressed the button to open the message.

"Kai-chan?!" it started.

Kaito nearly fainted.

"How are you?! Of course I remember. We used to hang out all the time! I'd always use to boss you around because I was older. Man, sorry about that. I promise to let _you_ be the physician next time, if we hang out and end up playing doctor. Ditto the husband if we play house. Uh…you _do_ remember that, right?"

Oh, Kaito remembered all right.

"Anyway, I'd love to catch up with you, but it will have to be primarily through texts and calls since I'm super busy on cases lately. Seriously. I can't go anywhere without tripping over a corpse, and that's not really something I want to subject you to. I'll call you in a day or so, but take care until then, Kaito. I'm really looking forward to talking with you."

Kaito's heart skipped a beat and then started going like a startled bunny rabbit's.

His palms felt sweaty, and was it hot in there, or was that just him?

"Hey, Sassy?" he called as he reached for his stuffed llama. "I think that dream was trying to tell me that I'm not as straight as I think I am."

…

Mikau: The End. Happy (Extremely Belated) Birthday, Kaito! Ahem, I hope you enjoyed the fic. Hakuba's is up next; it's in the same universe as this one, but it's not exactly a sequel. It's called The Cost of Being Considerate, and I should have it out by next week. Look forward to it! Well, thanks so much for reading. I'd be really grateful if you left a review on your way out. This one's kind of an oddball, and I'm very interested in knowing what people think of it. As always, I'm not just expecting high praise. I'd like to know what was good, what was not so good, what parts made you laugh, and what parts were just lame. I'd appreciate it a lot. Thanks in advance, and have a great day! Take care!


	2. The Party For Real This Time

Mikau: Hey, guys! It's great to see you again. First of all I want to thank Raifuujin, Mai-chan63, thezooqueen, MysteryConan, foreverandeveralone, icarusdg, Aniki-xvi, and cand13 for your reviews. I was overjoyed that so many people liked it, and your feedback was super helpful (especially icarusdg's that turned a one-shot into a three-part fic). I was a little worried about what people would think, since the first chapter was kind of weird, so your reassurances were really appreciated. And now, on with the show. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, the male uniform for Ekoda would be a blazer instead of a gakuran. Kaito's the only member of the cast that makes the gakuran work.

…

The Party (For Real This Time)

Throwing together a party in a matter of days turned out to be much harder than Kaito had thought it was going to be. Fortunately, Aoko and his mom helped a great deal.

The day of the event, in the morning he went to his father's grave like he had told Chrisy that he would and was surprised to find a huge crowd gathered together for a party of their own.

The graveyard was crawling with an entire football team and their cheering section's worth of people with the strangest assortment of hair and eye colors. Some of them looked to be Japanese, but a lot of them were most definitely foreign, and they all seemed to have known Kaito when he was in diapers. As Kiku-chan had warned, he was pinched on the cheeks many times and cooed over extensively.

He was sorely tempted to ask how all of these strange people knew his father, but he remembered that he had promised his mother that he wouldn't ask questions. He assumed it was some big secret from his father's Kid days and, for once, decided to let it go and enjoy the festivities.

They cleaned the grave, lit incense, and decorated it with flowers before digging in to the spread of various foods that everyone had brought.

It felt good to be able to go to his father's grave without breaking down and feeling hopeless for the rest of the day. This felt much more like a celebration of Kuroba Toichi's life than a reflection on his death.

Kaito was happy but tired once he finally made it home; however, there was no time to lose doing last minute prep for his own party.

Aoko came over early to set up, and Chikage helped, but they were still bringing food out of the kitchen when the first guest arrived at five-forty-five.

"I'll get it!" Kaito called out as the girls worked on cleaning up the cheese dip for the nachos. He trotted from the kitchen at the back of the house, through the living room, and to the front door, all the while wiping the stupid exploding cheese off of his hands with a paper towel.

Hakuba Saguru blinked in surprise at the sight of his host. "Uh…Happy Birthday, Kuroba, but…you do know you have cheese on your nose, don't you?"

"Yeah. Thanks," Kaito grumbled, stepping to the side to allow his guest passage while futilely trying to get the accursed cheese off of his face.

"Here. Allow me," the Brit offered, taking the towel. He gently cupped Kaito's cheek with one hand and began wiping away the cheese with care.

All the while the scene from Kaito's birthday nightmare kept playing over and over again in his head. He could feel the detective's breath on his face, and they were close enough that if Hakuba leaned in just a fraction…

"There. All done," his rival decreed, stepping back with a faint blush rising on his cheeks. "Though, you may want to go to the restroom and wash up a bit."

Kaito blinked, snapping back to reality. "Uh, yeah. Thanks, Hakuba." He laughed sheepishly. "We were just in the kitchen getting the cheese for the nachos heated, but it kind of exploded just as you rang the bell. Aoko and Mom are cleaning up right now."

"Oh? Then I should go assist them." Hakuba took a step forward with purpose but then paused, looking a little lost. "Sorry, where is your kitchen?"

"Just back through the living room." Kaito gestured vaguely. "But you don't have to help. Wouldn't want you to get your clothes dirty; they look expensive."

The Brit looked down at his designer slacks, dress shirt, and tie. He shrugged. "That's what dry cleaning is for. It is a gentleman's duty to assist a lady in distress." Hakuba began to stride forward again but then stopped. "Incidentally, where should I put your present? Wouldn't want that to get…cheesy."

"P-Present?" Kaito blinked, flashbacks of the dream coming at him again.

"Yes." The blonde shifted awkwardly, pulling out a small, rectangular package. "I know you said I didn't have to bring anything, but this _is_ a birthday party, and I wouldn't feel right coming without one. It's not much, but I thought that maybe you'd like it."

"Th-Thank you, Hakuba." Kaito reached out hesitantly and took the box. "I'll take it upstairs so nothing happens to it. A house full of teenagers is not a safe place; drinks and food get spilled, things get broken…"

"Then I'll see you in the kitchen." Hakuba gave a polite nod and went the way Kaito had indicated to see if he could offer assistance.

Kaito, on the other hand, raced up the stairs to his room and tore open the present. Well, first he admired the hand-made bow, and then he tore into the present, but what he found inside was not what his dream had led him to expect.

It was a DVD collection of all the Lupin movies.

After deliberating for a minute or two, Kaito decided that it was probably a good thing he hadn't received a Kaitou 1412 scrapbook and that the Lupin DVDs were pretty cool.

He hurried downstairs to the kitchen, just in time to see Aoko giggling at something Hakuba had said.

Hmm. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about the way his crush was making eyes at Mr. Tall, Blonde, and Loaded. Scratch that. He was damn sure how he felt about Aoko staring all googoo-eyed at Hakuba.

Kaito was just about to make his displeasure known when the doorbell rang.

The group looked up at him expectantly.

"I'll go get that," the birthday boy sighed.

After that, it seemed like an endless supply of guests kept interrupting him. Being the host sucked.

He put on his poker face grin and greeted everyone cheerfully, helpfully indicating the buffet table, drinks, and restroom. He enthusiastically thanked them for coming and graciously accepted their gifts.

All the while he kept an eye on Aoko as she moved about the room, chatting, snacking, dancing with friends.

At least _she_ was having fun. Geez. Was this the way she felt when she played hostess at her Christmas party every year?

The tired teen was genuinely grateful when Watanabe showed up with a gift, giving him an excuse to retreat upstairs to his bedroom, away from his guests.

Kaito set the little box down on his bed with the others before sinking to the floor, leaning back against his bedframe.

Now that he was further away from the constant murmur of the crowd and the pumping of the base, he could actually here his phone beeping. He had a text.

From Shinichi.

His heart started beating a little faster as he fumbled to open the message.

"Hey, Kai-chan. Happy Birthday! How's it feel to be a whole year older? Any different? Eighteen for me might as well have been eight…or eighty. Age creeps up on you so slowly that one year hardly seems to make a difference, but just think of who you are now compared to who you were when you were ten. Think of all the rights and responsibilities you have now that you didn't then. All those 'just one more year's really piled up, didn't they? Haha. Am I getting too philosophical? Well then forget what I said and just have some cake. You earned it for surviving yet another year in this cruel, crazy world.

"How's the party going, Kaito? Sorry I couldn't make it. I'm still out of town, but I promise to send you a present. I swear I'll try to meet up with you if I'm ever in Tokyo for more than a few hours at a time. It's been so long; I'd really like to see you in person. Well, I'll talk to you later. Sorry this is such a huge text. Have a great birthday!"

Kaito sighed contentedly. "Oh, Shin-chan."

It was sweet and sad all at the same time.

Kaito supposed turning eighteen had been _exactly_ like turning eight again for Shinichi—complete with a Kamen Yaiba-themed party—but the older teen was right. One more year hardly made a difference from year to year, but Kaito was a _very_ different person now than the poor traumatized kid he'd been on his eighth birthday.

"Hey, Shin-chan," Kaito started to type back. "Ask me if I feel any different a week from now. I need some time to let it sink in. Don't sweat it; I like philosophical Shinichi. He's deep. It's sexy. I'm told all the girls go for it. I will, however, have some cake on your behalf. Though, my friend Aoko made it, so I'm not too sure how it'll taste. As for the party…"

Kaito paused. To lie or not to lie?

"Party sucks. There're all these people that I have to greet and be a good host to, so I can't enjoy the food or dancing or games or anything myself. Plus, I'm starting to think that Aoko has a thing for our classmate Hakuba Saguru. He's a detective like you. You know him? Tall, blonde, obnoxious, snarky, uber British? Anyway, I'm kind of bumming since I might have sort of had a thing for her. It's no big deal, though. Though, it just kind of ticks me off, you know? It's _my_ birthday; _I'm_ the one that's supposed to be having a good time. Am I being too whiney? Sorry for unloading on you, Shin-chan….

"I wish you could have been here. It would have been more fun; I wanna see you too, but don't worry about it. I know you're busy with work. I understand. Believe me, I do. Good luck catching the bad guys; I'll try to have fun. Call me later?"

Did that sound too needy? Too insistent?

Kaito went back and added "if you're not too busy" before hitting send.

He waited for nearly ten minutes for a reply before giving up and going back downstairs with a sigh.

Apparently, in his absence, a spirited game of pool had started up on one of the tables that Jii-chan had lent him for the party. His classmates were all gathered round the players, hollering their support and making bets.

"Take that, Goldilocks," a familiar female voice chuckled following the sharp smack of pool balls knocking together as one flew into the corner pocket.

"It seems I have no other choice since you've been running the game ever since I allowed you to break," Hakuba muttered in return, trying his hardest to remain polite. "I shall have to reconsider my 'ladies first' rule."

"I warned you." Chrisy shrugged and began to line up her next shot.

"Kiku-chan?" Kaito stared incredulously at the young woman holding the pool stick. She had Chrisy's voice, but she looked nothing like the Kiku-chan that Kaito had seen earlier that day in the graveyard. This one had brown hair and black eyes instead of the electric blonde and lime green of before.

Unfortunately, Kaito had called out to her just as she made her shot, causing her to jump slightly and miss.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance as one of the solid balls went in. "Table's yours, Goldilocks."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like a redo?" Hakuba bit the inside of his cheek as he struggled internally with his desire to win versus his duty as a gentleman.

"Do you _wanna_ lose?" Chrisy snorted, rolling her eyes as she pushed through the crowd to get to Kaito. "Hey, Kiddo! Happy Birthday! Man, I remember the day you were born; you were so little. When'd you get bigger than me?"

"I don't know. Sometime around fourteen? I hardly recognized you, Kiku-chan. You dye your hair since this morning?"

The woman who was most likely a super cool secret agent…or an extremely dangerous gang member laughed. "I thought the Pikachu blonde and highlighter green eyes would attract too much attention for a birthday party, so I put on a wig and got out my colored contacts. Today's supposed to be about you, and people would have asked too many questions about me. Besides, what would you of told them?"

"You're my dad's friend from Italy, and it's not your fault you were born a freak." Kaito stuck out his tongue, giving his assistant a playful shove.

She shoved back a little harder. "Hey. Watch it. I'm sensitive about my looks. And be nice, or I won't give you your present."

"You're not sensitive about your looks." Kaito roll his eyes with a grin. "You think you look BA. Now where's my present?"

"Damn right I do." Chrisy smiled and handed her little brother figure a small jewelry box. "Open it later. For now, I've gotta get back to trouncing Goldilocks…or maybe being trounced by Goldilocks at this point. Take care, Kiddo, and have a good birthday." With a quick pat on the back, Chrisy turned and began pushing her way back through the oohing and awing crowd.

Kaito slipped the box into one of his inner pockets and renewed his search for Aoko.

Just as he spotted her over by the cake, a slow song started up, and he was intercepted by Keiko-chan.

"Hey there, Kaito-kun. Happy Birthday!" the bespectacled girl giggled.

"Uh…hey, Keiko-chan. Thanks," Kaito stumbled over his words, remembering what had happened at the dream party.

"It's not much, but I got you a present," the normally boisterous girl replied shyly as she offered him a small box. "You can open it later so you don't have to pretend to be excited about it, if you don't like it. For now, I was wondering if you'd dance with me."

Kaito saw her tense almost imperceptibly; he saw the anxious look of anticipation in her eyes, and he knew what he had to do. "Sure, Keiko-chan, though, I'm sure I'll love the gift. It was really kind of you to pick something out for me."

The song lasted an unbelievably long four minutes, and by the time it was over, he'd lost sight of Aoko.

"See ya, Keiko-chan. Thanks again for the present," Kaito called back as he dashed off as soon as the song ended. He didn't want to hang around for any awkward confessions that may or may not be coming. He wasn't taking any chances.

He made his way back to the pool tables, hoping to glimpse her from the centralized location.

No such luck. However he did see that Hakuba had moved on and Kiku-chan was kicking some other guy's behind at a game of nine ball.

"Hey, Kiku-chan, have you seen Aoko?" He doubted she'd seen anything but the balls on the table for the past half hour, but he thought he might as well give it a try.

"Nope," Chrisy shrugged, pocketing the nine ball and winning yet another round. "Sorry."

"What happened to Hakuba?" It was bad enough not knowing where Aoko was; at least he could relax knowing that she wasn't anywhere near his rival in love, but if they were both MIA, that could spell trouble.

"Hakuba? …Oh! That blonde git with the awesome accent. He won the first game, lost the second, and then we settled it like men. I don't know where he went, but I don't like him," Kaito's miracle worker snorted.

"Thanks anyway," Kaito sighed, scanning the room for tall blondes. "Good luck, Kiku-chan."

"Thanks. Don't need it," she laughed as she prepared to take a shot behind her back.

Now where was that detective?

"Over there," a, sadly, familiar voice purred.

Kaito turned, and there was the witch herself.

"You're looking for Nakamori-san, aren't you? She just asked Hakuba-kun to dance." Akako smirked, looking very much like those cobras she used to decorate her skimpy witching outfit.

Kaito looked where the redhead had indicated and frowned. He was gonna go over there and—

"—Here," Akako abruptly put a stop to his devious plans to break up the two policemen's children as she handed him a small cube wrapped in scarlet paper. "Open it."

Kaito sighed and did as ordered before she decided to turn him into a bat or something.

Inside the little package he found an amulet that looked a little bit like an eye. It was round and about the size of a five yen piece. The white of the eye looked to be made out of red jasper, and the iris looked like garnet. Inside of the red rings was a piece of some kind of black stone for the pupil. Jet maybe? He'd have to look at it more closely later.

"Put it on. Wear it under your shirt; I don't care, but put it on," the witch demanded. "It wards off bad luck and evil spirits."

Kaito paused, hesitant to trust the woman that had almost killed him several times with her hexes, spells, and schemes in her quest to capture his heart.

Something flashed through Akako's burnt sienna eyes when she realized the reason for his reluctance—it looked like genuine hurt, but then it was gone. "I just thought…you could use the extra protection what with all the people after Kid nowadays." She turned her head with a delicate little snort. "Wear it or don't; it makes no difference to me."

"Thanks, Akako-chan," Kaito whispered, slipping the amulet over his head and gently tucking it under his shirt. "Though I'm _not_ Kid. I swear. You're as bad as Hakuba. Thanks, though. That was really sweet of you. Wanna dance?"

Akako blinked, her head whipping around so fast that her high, graceful ponytail whapped her in the face.

Kaito laughed warmly and extended a hand to his frienemy. "Come on. I'd be remiss if I didn't ask the prettiest girl here to dance."

"But…you like…" For once the talkative witch was at a loss for words.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I don't have eyes." Kaito shrugged, forcibly taking her hand and pulling her out to the dance floor. "I know you're pretty; I just prefer the girl next door." _Or boy_, he mentally added, wondering what his Shin-chan was up to.

Probably solving a murder at the restaurant where the Mouri family had chosen to dine that night. Or, if they were having take-out, he was probably trying to figure out why the delivery guy had just dropped dead on their doorstep. Even if they were eating in tonight, there would probably be some emergency client that came flying into their office, disturbing their meal. The life of a detective was not easy, especially when you were cursed.

Kaito absentmindedly wondered how _he'd_ react if a date with Shin-chan was ever interrupted by a corpse.

Then he thought, _Date? Where did that come from? I've been texting the guy for three days, and I'm already subconsciously thinking about a relationship. Geez._

It was then that he caught the tail end of what Akako was saying. Something about flying monkeys? Oh. She meant Kid. Good. Kaito didn't want the Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch stereotype about airborne simians to be true.

"Though, I've actually become quite a fan, you know," Akako whispered as she stepped in closer and rested her head on Kaito's shoulder so that she was speaking into his neck. "At first I thought of Kid as a self-absorbed, immature pest, but…he's actually very brave…sweet. I worry about him. You understand, don't you? Since you're his biggest fan, I mean."

"Yeah," Kaito hummed softly. "I'm sure he'd be tickled pink to hear you say that."

"Are you ticklish, Kuroba-kun?" the witch replied off-handedly.

"Just in one really weird spot." Kaito fought the urge to blush.

"Ooooooh?" she trilled, her tone scooping down a little before shooting up. She said it in such a suggestive way.

"It's nothing like _that_." This time, Kaito did blush. "It's just along this rib here, right under my chest."

He could feel the vibrations of Akako snickering against his neck. "And how did you find out about it? It's not like you could have tickled yourself." There was that suggestive tone of voice again.

"It was when I was really little." The blush deepened as Kaito thought of his newest crush. "I had this friend that liked to play doctor."

"Nakamori-san?" She said it flatly, without the playful teasing tone she had been using thus far.

He imagined that if he had been able to see her face, he would have witnessed the flirtatious smirk dropping right off of it to be replaced with a thin line of disapproval paired with frown lines appearing on her forehead and around her garnet eyes.

"No. It was a guy—Kudo Shinichi, my cousin of sorts." Kaito willed the blood pooling in his cheeks to get lost.

"Oh." It sounded as if everything was all caldrons and newt's eyes again for the witch.

They chitchatted some more until the song came to a close, and then Kaito went off to get some cake after thanking Akako again for the amulet.

Kaito reached for the knife to cut himself a slice and jumped when his hand brushed another.

"Oh, Kuroba."

It was Hakuba. Joy.

"After you," the detective laughed sheepishly as he withdrew his hand with a light blush.

"Thanks." Kaito nodded his appreciation as he picked up the knife. He tried not to growl at the stupid, crush-stealer with luscious, wavy blonde hair.

"Enjoying the party thus far?" the socially awkward sleuth attempted to make small talk while he waited for his turn with the knife.

"It's alright." Kaito shrugged, saying as little as possible so as to decrease the chance of being catty. He had a bit of a childish streak, and his living room was not the place to start a food fight by shoving a piece of cake in the pesky Brit's face. His mom would kill him and then make _him_ clean it up all by himself.

"Oh? Just alright?" Hakuba accepted the knife from Kaito, discretely letting his hand brush his classmate's. "I saw you dancing with Koizumi-san." The blonde took a breath, mentally crossing his fingers before continuing. "You two looked…close. You wouldn't happen to be dating, would you?"

Kaito blinked. "Me and Akako-chan? No way. We're just…something kind of resembling friends…. What about you and Aoko? You two looked pretty friendly dancing together."

Hakuba blushed and looked genuinely surprised. "Aoko-kun and…and me? I…no. Sorry if I ever gave you the wrong impression, but there's…there's someone else…that I…" The detective looked perfectly uncomfortable as he turned to gaze elsewhere—anywhere but the magician's face.

"Oh." Kaito visibly perked up. "No. That's cool. Don't worry about. So you two are just friends?"

"I was under the impression that you and Aoko-kun had an understanding. I may have tried to antagonize you at first, but I've never really thought of her as anything more than a friendly acquaintance. Are you two not…?" Hakuba held his breath.

"No," Kaito sighed. "No, we're not, but…"

"…you'd like to be," the smitten detective muttered. "I understand."

Kaito cocked his head to the side. Did Hakuba sound disappointed? He was just about to ask when he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket.

Shinichi.

"Well, enjoy the rest of the party," Kaito sang, clapping his classmate on the back. "I'm sure I'll see you again later, but I've gotta take this call."

Hakuba blinked and stared at his host's retreating back as the magician-thief ran off in search of a quiet place. "Right. Not a problem," he sighed.

000

"Shin-chan?" Kaito could barely hold in his excitement as he plopped down onto his bed (the part without presents on it, anyway) and answered his phone.

"Kai-chan?" Shinichi mimicked Kaito's bouncy tone. "How's it going? Is the party still going on? I'm not interrupting, am I?"

"No, no! It's fine," Kaito assured, breaking into a grin at the sound of his distant cousin's voice. "I'm not really having a whole lot of fun."

"Oh? I'm sorry to hear that," Shinichi cooed.

"It's okay. I know for next time to only invite a few close friends. The cake was okay, though." Kaito moved some presents out of the way so that he could roll over onto his back.

"Well, that's good," Shinichi chuckled, and Kaito could hear him repositioning himself too.

"So, what are _you_ up to?" Kaito risked sounding flirty. "Surely your evening hasn't been as boring as mine, Mr. Hotshot Detective."

The shrunken sleuth laughed again, making Kaito's stomach go up in knots. "Well, while it wasn't boring, _I'd_ certainly rather be at your party. I went out for what was supposed to be a quiet dinner, but the chef got killed by his ex-girlfriend from high school, so that kind of put a damper on the evening."

_Called it._

"But you solved the case, didn't you?" Kaito pressed. "That must have been interesting; at least as far as mental challenges go, anyway. Too bad about dinner, though. I wouldn't have much of an appetite after seeing the cook's dead body."

"That's the reason I'm sort of hesitant to take you anywhere when we finally get to meet up. People seem to drop like flies around me; sometimes I think I'm cursed," the weary detective sighed.

"Poor Shin-chan," Kaito cooed. "Don't worry. I'm sure nothing too terrible would happen around me; I've got awesome luck most of the time. Maybe our luck will cancel each other out?"

"Here's hoping," Shinichi breathed. "Anything else up with you, Kai-chan?"

"Nothing much," Kaito sighed. "I talked to Hakuba, and he said he's not interested in Aoko, so we know he's not a threat. Now I feel kinda bad for being a little short with him. He's obnoxious, but he's actually a nice guy. I think it's because he just doesn't have much experience really with others, so he doesn't know how to act."

Shinichi made a thoughtful noise. "That could be it. You know, the times I've met him, he _has_ seemed a little strange…definitely awkward when it comes to dealing with people. Anyway, I'm glad that he's not interested in Aoko-san, and don't worry about getting jealous and acting like a jerk. If he knows how you feel about her, he'll understand. I know _I_ get all bent out of shape when somebody starts hitting on Ran."

"Thanks, Shin-chan…. By the way, how _are_ things going with Ran-san?" Kaito held his breath while he awaited a response.

It took a while for Shinichi to reply. "Strained," he finally answered.

"Sorry," Kaito whispered back.

"Don't worry about it," the sleuth shrugged it off. "She has every right to be pissed at me. I've kept her waiting in the dark for a long time, and I still don't have an answer for her. This case I've been working on these past couple years is tough, time consuming, and dangerous, so…my hands are kind of tied on this one."

"Are you sure you're okay, Shin-chan?" Kaito wanted nothing more than to pick little Conan up and squeeze him like a teddy bear.

"Yeah, no. I'm fine, Kaito. Thanks," he chuckled softly, but exhaustion was evident in his voice.

"Okay, but if you ever need help or want to talk about something, I'm here for you anytime," Kaito assured.

"Thank you, Kaito." This time a soft smile could be heard. "That really means a lot to me."

You_ mean a lot to me._ Kaito bit his lip to keep from saying it out loud.

"I'm really glad you decided to get back in touch with me," Shinichi continued after a beat. "I didn't realize how much I needed the support until I got your text the other day, but…having someone to talk to really makes a difference. Thanks for being there for me."

"My pleasure, Shin-chan." God, Kaito just wanted to snuggle his shrunken cousin.

"Well, you better get back to your party," Shinichi sighed, looking at his wristwatch. He had to get back home before Ran came looking for him and his cover was blown. "Kaito, try to have fun, okay?"

"No, I wanna talk with Shin-chan some more," the magician pretended to whine.

"Man, Kaito. You're still so cute," Shinichi couldn't help but chuckle. "I remember you used to throw a fit like that every time you had to go home."

"Yeah, and I doubt our parents could pry me off of you nowadays," Kaito snickered.

"Ha! That'd be funny to watch, but…I gotta go. I'll text you later?"

"You'd better," Kaito warned. "Night, night, Shin-chan. Take care of yourself."

"You too, Kai-chan. Goodnight."

And the call ended with a soft click.

Kaito sighed. He wanted a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend. Whatever—someone to be all lovey-dovey with, someone to comfort and be comforted by. That's really all he wanted for his birthday.

However, the DVDs, tie pins, comics, and, yes, even the inappropriate gag gifts that he'd have to hide from his mother were nice.

He went back downstairs to face his guests and was unexpectedly pulled into a game of pool.

Hakuba and Chrisy were having a rematch, and since they were too evenly matched, they had decided to form teams with a weaker player.

Kaito got drafted to be on Kiku-chan's side while Aoko had volunteered herself to help Hakuba.

"If you let your little girlfriend win…" Chrisy hissed under her breath.

That didn't stop him from going easy on Aoko, though he didn't throw the game entirely. He had to look good in front of Hakuba, and heaven knows that Kiku-chan might not be so happy to provide him with spare parts, equipment, blueprints, and the wide array of other goods and services she normally did if he made her lose a game of pool.

The girl had a competitive streak.

While pool was semi-enjoyable, some of the fun was taken out of it by Hakuba and Chrisy glaring and snarling at each other like pitbulls throughout.

Team White Stallion took the first game, and Team Chrysanthemum won the second, but by that point both Aoko and Kaito were tired of playing, and the team captains were left to settle things "like men" once more.

"Though, I don't know if we're really capable of doing it 'like men,'" Chrisy mused. "I, for one, lack the genitalia, and I'm not quite sure if he has 'em either. Just sayin'."

Hakuba growled softly, but refrained from making any vulgar, ungentlemanly remarks, such as "Would you like to see them?"

The woman tried his patience.

Then she said something in English that Kaito didn't quite catch, but he could tell it was antagonistic by the way she smirked and cocked her head to the side.

It was ON.

Hakuba retorted in that awesome British accent that Kaito had been trying to learn, and Chrisy returned his serve in her colorful New Jersey accent. They talked so fast that it was hard to really catch anything they were saying, especially since Kiku-chan kept switching dialects. She didn't get to speak English often, so she was fully taking advantage of the rare opportunity to break out and practice all of her accents.

Aoko blinked as the two verbal combatants stared each other down and barked back and forth. "They look like they're having fun," she mumbled.

"Yeah," Kaito hummed. "I've never seen Hakuba like that before…well, except for at Kid heists, but…they're really tearing into each other, aren't they?"

"Kaito…just who is that Chrisy-san person, anyway? How do you know her?" Aoko's eyebrows knit together, and she pursed her lips as the two got up in each other's face.

Kaito frowned when he realized that Aoko was asking because she was sizing Chrisy up as a possible love rival. He almost said, "She's too old for him," and "Don't worry, she doesn't like other blondes," but he finally decided upon simply, "She's my dad's friend from Italy…. Why do ya ask?"

Aoko shrugged, blushing. "Just curious. Aoko's never met her before, and she thought she knew all of Kaito's friends…. She's pretty."

Kaito returned the shrug. "Yeah, I guess." If you liked foreigners…which most did somewhat, but Kiku-chan wasn't his type. Though, he did think she looked better with her naturally neon-blonde hair, and the black eyes were dull compared to her green ones.

"She and Hakuba-kun look natural together," Aoko sighed. "They suit each other."

"Why? Because they're both European?" Kaito snorted. "You got a thing for him or something?"

His childhood friend shifted uneasily. "A little. Hakuba-kun is kind and refined and mature, and it's none of your business, Ba-Kaito!"

Kaito huffed again, softer this time. He considered saying, "I asked, and he told me he's got someone else, so don't bother going to the trouble," but thought better of it.

"What about you and Akako-chan?" Aoko whispered, calming down much more quickly than normal.

"Geez, why is everybody askin' about that? So we danced _once_. Big deal. I danced with Keiko-chan too, and you don't see anybody asking about me and her," the childish teen harrumphed.

"But…Akako-chan told Aoko that she liked Kaito…when we went on the ski trip, and Akako-chan is always trying to get Kaito to notice her, and she's always whispering things to Kaito and going to the roof to talk to Kaito, and…and…" Aoko bit her lip, and turned away, trying to hide the look of anguish on her face from her best friend.

Kaito's heart skipped a beat. "You're worried…. Aoko, I don't like Akako-chan, and I'm not too sure that she really likes me either. We have a weird kinda, sorta friendship, but there's nothing romantic going on between us."

Aoko nodded, but her expression flickered between relieved, saddened, and utterly conflicted. "Aoko's a bad friend. She shouldn't be happy that Akako-chan's going to get her heart broken just because it means Aoko may end up in a relationship."

"It's okay to be selfish when you like somebody," Kaito assured softly, trying his hardest to keep a grin from breaking out on his face.

"But…if Aoko really cared about Akako-chan, she'd want Akako-chan and Kaito to end up together so that she could be happy," Aoko sighed feeling guilty.

Kaito blinked. "Wait. You like _Akako-chan_?!"

"Shhh!" Aoko hissed as her face went up in a flaming red blush. Her eyes pleaded with him to lower his voice.

"You like _Akako-chan_?!" he whispered.

She glanced around, making sure no one else could hear before she mumbled, "Yes…. Akako-chan is so glamorous and funny and just so cute. Aoko…Aoko really likes her a lot."

"Hn." Kaito had nothing to say.

This was his second worst birthday party ever.

Aoko fidgeted beside him, and he knew he had to come up with some sort of response.

He took a deep breath. "It's okay, you know. Having a crush on another girl, I mean. I mean, up until really, really recently, I thought I just liked girls, but…but then…" He inhaled slowly and tried it again. "Aoko, what I'm trying to say is…me too, so don't worry about it. We're cool."

"You…?" She looked up hesitantly. "Wait. We are?"

He nodded. "Yeah. We're cool, so if you ever need to talk or need advice or whatever…"

"Thanks, Kaito," she whispered, wearing a smile that lit up his world.

He shrugged it off, trying to look cool, even though his heart was breaking. He layered on the poker face and ruffled her hair playfully. "No prob."

Just about the time that Kaito and Aoko were finishing their talk, Hakuba and Kiku-chan were wrapping up their smear-fest as well. Strangely enough, the pair of blondes was now laughing.

"That was actually quite enjoyable," Hakuba reluctantly admitted. "I'm terribly sorry about anything and everything I said that was offensive. I don't usually use such vulgar language."

"Oh, no." Chrisy easily waved it away with a snort. "I had fun too…and no take-backs; you meant most of the things you said. You were spot on about my mother, though."

"Oh really?" The detective loosened the top button of his collar (a nervous gesture Kaito made a note to use next time he dressed up as the Brit). "Which part? I said a lot about your mother, if I remember correctly."

"All of it." The blonde in disguise replied with a shrug. "My mother is Satan in a miniskirt. Now, what was that one m word you said? It sounded like it meant ugly."

"Ugly? …Oh, 'minger'?" The gentleman laughed sheepishly. "Rather than just ugly, minger is more like you'd have to have drunk an entire bottle or two of something to find the person attractive."

"Hmm." Kiku-chan nodded appreciatively at the insult. "And what was pikey? I don't think I've heard that before."

"Means you're trashy…of a low social class," the Brit summarized, somewhat ashamed he had stooped so low.

"And one more: scrubber?"

"A very…loose young woman." Hakuba blushed.

"I'll have to call my sister that sometime," she mused.

"Where did you learn British slang, by the way? You seem pretty knowledgeable, but some of your usage is a bit antiquated," the detective inquired, leaning up against one of the pool tables.

"This from the guy who says 'antiquated' and called me a 'trollop'," Chrisy scoffed. "I've traveled a lot, and when I was little, in England visiting a friend of my mentor, the friend taught me. I picked some of it up just from being there, but he thought it was funny to teach a little kid some British insults. My mentor was, of course, outraged, but my parents got a chuckle out of it."

"I see." Hakuba nodded. "You seem to remember a lot of what you learned."

The older blonde shrugged again. "I've been back for work since then, and I've learned some more. Speaking of work, I've gotta go, but it was great kicking your butt at pool, Goldilocks. Ciao!" She smacked him on the arm, gave a sharp salute, and turned to leave.

"You gotta go to work, Kiku-chan?" Kaito asked as his guest walked past.

"Yep." His assistant gave his hair a fond tussle.

"What kind of job is it tonight? Not a Number 10, is it?" He held his breath. Sometimes she hinted at what she would be doing, and he had figured out that a Number 10 had something to do with guns. Whether she was smuggling them or recovering them from smugglers, he still wasn't sure, but he'd like to hope the latter.

"Bartending, actually," she laughed off his concern.

Probably at some dump that mob bosses went to. People got loose-lipped when drunk, and bartenders were able to pick up a lot. Not as bad as some kind of gun bust, but undercover work could be dangerous too.

"Don't worry. Kei requested the night off so he could pose as a customer and keep an eye on me. You two are overprotective." Chrisy rolled her eyes.

Good. Kei-san was a medic, and he'd do anything to keep Kiku-chan safe.

"Happy Birthday, Kiddo, and it was nice meeting you, Nakamori-chan."

"You too," Aoko returned unenthusiastically.

Chrisy blinked, wondering what was up with the icy reception. Then it clicked. "Oh. Blondie over there? No. Nuh-uh. Even if he were my type, I've already got somebody that everyone thinks is destined for me; you know what that's like. Laters."

Aoko watched her as she left, looking thoughtful. "She's actually kind of cool."

"She's a lot of things." Kaito shrugged. "I think of her as the crazy babysitter that lets you play with fire only to have a panic attack when you get singed a bit." Yes, that summed up their relationship perfectly.

"I, frankly, can't stand her," Hakuba snorted. "She's coarse and arrogant and belligerent and—"

"—Let's play poker," Kaito suggested, cutting off the rant before it could properly start. He rounded up a few others including Yamada-kun, Keiko-chan, Akako-chan, and Watanabe-kun, gathered a couple decks, and started a small tournament.

000

People started trickling out of the party around nine, and by ten thirty, it was just Akako-chan, Hakuba, Aoko, and Kaito himself.

Aoko yawned and looked at her watch. "We should probably start cleaning up."

"You guys don't have to help," the host tried to stop them as they started gathering up trash. (He was surprised that even the witch was assisting.)

"I don't mind at all, Kuroba," Hakuba assured.

Aoko shrugged, and Akako rolled her eyes. They continued cleaning.

"Thanks, guys," Kaito chuckled. "Well, I guess if you girls can work on collecting the trash, Hakuba and I will start on the leftovers and dishes." He took the detective by the sleeve and practically dragged him into the kitchen.

With a sigh, Kaito began to work on storing the remaining food.

"Did…you enjoy the rest of the party?" Hakuba inquired tentatively, following his classmate's lead.

"Poker was fun, but things kind of went downhill from the last time you asked about how I was enjoying myself," Kaito muttered, tossing the godforsaken cheese dip bowl into the sink.

"Oh? I'm terribly sorry. Did something happen, Kuroba?" The blonde wasn't quite sure if he should let it be or risk prying.

Kaito paused, looking up at his rival. "Wanna know why _you're_ in here with me instead of Aoko?"

"I _was_ wondering," Hakuba mumbled.

"I'm being considerate. Aoko has a crush on someone besides you, but you didn't hear it from me," the emotionally crushed teen snorted.

The Brit's mouth would have fallen open, but it was bad manners. "Oh."

"Yeah. So I don't have a chance," Kaito muttered, dumping the potato chip leavings back into the bag.

"I'm sorry, Kuroba." Hakuba prayed to whomever was listening that he sounded sincere on the outside because on the inside, he was jumping for joy. Did that make him a bad person?

"You and me both." Kaito put the chip bowl in with the dip bowl. "But, you know, it's probably for the best. I've only ever liked _her_, and I hate to think about what if we got married and started wondering if we had missed out on something because we never saw other people."

"Is there….someone else?" The poor detective could already feel the affirmative response coming.

"You know what, there is." Kaito's frown turned up at the ends, becoming the tiniest sliver of a smile. "Since my chances with Aoko are looking pretty grim at the moment, maybe I should put things with her on hold for the time being and go for the other person."

Hakuba nodded, making a non-committal noise as he wrapped up the leftover cake.

Kaito kept talking for a minute or two before he noticed that his classmate was mopey. "Hey, Hakuba. Everything okay?"

The detective jumped slightly at his name. "Sorry. Just a little tired. I didn't mean to zone out on you. I apologize."

"Nah. It's fine." Kaito quickly shrugged it off. "It's just that you looked kind of disappointed."

Hakuba shook his head, keeping his eyes glued on the fruit he was putting into containers. "No. Just tired…. Thank you, though, Kuroba…. And thank you for going to the trouble of inviting me to the party as well. It really means a lot to me."

"Sure." Kaito grinned softly. "No prob. Hey, maybe sometime would you wanna—"

He was abruptly cut off by his phone, which could finally be heard now that the swarm of noisy teens had left.

He instantly snatched it from his pocket and checked the readout.

Shinichi!

Shinichi wishing him goodnight. How sweet!

They were just like a regular couple already!

"That text…is it from the person you like?" Hakuba quietly interrupted a few minutes later.

Now it was Kaito's turn to jump. "Huh? Oh. Yeah. Yeah, it is. Sorry I kinda spaced out on you there."

"It's fine," Hakuba lied. "Is that the same person that called you earlier?"

"Yep," the magician in love chirped as he quickly typed out a reply to his beloved.

Hakuba nodded, wanting more than anything to escape, but he couldn't leave altogether because he had offered his services, and it would not be gentlemanly to go back on his word. Nor could he get away from his crush by going to help the girls because it would be inconsiderate of Aoko-kun's feelings.

Blast it all.

Thankfully, or perhaps not, the rest of the cleanup was fairly quiet. Hakuba was permitted to work in peace as Kaito hummed, texting back and forth with his mystery person.

Somehow they got everything straightened and tidy, and the others headed home before midnight.

Kaito crawled his way up to his bedroom and passed out before bothering to change clothes or climb under the covers. It had been all he could do to move the presents out of his way before collapsing.

Even though other parts of the night had sucked royally, things had ended on a high note with Shinichi almost making up for the rest of the crap.

Of course, he'd have to call and complain tomorrow about the Aoko/Akako situation, but he was sure Shin-chan would be understanding and supportive. Though Aoko's surprise had been a letdown, at least Kaito still had hope.

Smart, funny, exciting hope with a gorgeous pair of cerulean eyes.

Despite the setbacks, it left him feeling optimistic.

….

#(-_-) (Q.Q)

Mikau: So, somebody mentioned that I didn't have an emot for the last chapter, so here're two to make up for it. I present to you: Ticked Kara and Teary-Eyed Kara. Ahem. Anyway, I have news! There's a poll on my profile page that I'd like you guys to take, if you have a minute. I was thinking about starting a forum so that we could all chat and interact and everything, but I'm not sure what kind of forum you guys would be interested in. I have a couple different ideas, but if you guys could weigh in, that would be great. In other news, my brother was sick all last week, and, like a good, loving sister, I took care of him. Now I'm sick. Anyway, as always, feedback about the chapter would be greatly appreciated, if you have the time. Thanks for reading, and take care of yourself!


	3. Cards on the Table

Mikau: Hey everyone! I was in a bit of a rush editing this today so that I could post it before I headed off to work. It's a little shorter than the other chapters, but I had a lot of fun with it. The Jaws ride is actually were I learned the word for shark: 'same'. At first I thought the tour guide said that there had been a lot of sightings of giant 'seme' in the area, and I was confused. Being attacked by sharks is a lot different than being attacked by seme. The reason why I brought that up will become clear once you read the chapter. No, I'm not nuts…entirely anyway. By the way, check out my profile page to take the poll if you haven't already, please. Also, thanks so much to Raifuujin, JelpHasNails, Mai-chan63, MysteryConan, icarusdg, Aniki-xvi, and foreverandeveralone for your reviews! They're much appreciated. Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, there would be even less plot-relevant episodes and waaaaay more romance…pretty much entirely of the shounen-ai variety. What can I say? It's what I do best.

….

Cards on the Table

"No, the party actually went really well," Kaito giggled (in a masculine—oh, who was he kidding? He sounded as gay as a day in May, and he didn't care one bit!). "He even liked the plushies I made for him."

"Really? I'm glad. I know you were stressing about that," Shinichi chuckled back. Though, it had been kind of funny listening to his crazy cousin freak out. Kaito was so cute sometimes without even trying.

"So how was your trip to Osaka?" the little spaz switched topics.

Kaito did that a lot. He'd quickly reply to whatever Shinichi had said, and then he would ask the shrunken detective something, draining him of all of the details before they'd move on. Sometimes Shinichi swore Kaito only did it because he liked the sound of the older teen's voice.

"Tell me everything. It's been boring not being able to talk to you for a whole week 'cause of your trip," Kaito whined.

"Not much to tell." The detective shrugged. "Saw the castle; somebody died. Ate takoyaki; somebody died. Went to a restaurant famous for its okonomiyaki; it was delicious, but then somebody died. We hit up Universal Studios Japan, and we went on the Jaws…you're not afraid of sharks too, are you?"

"No," Kaito replied with a shrug as he flipped over onto his stomach so that he could kick his legs back and forth in the air.

"Good. Well, we were on the Jaws ride, and at the end when the shark comes right up alongside the left of the boat, the shark came out of the water, and in its mouth was a corpse that had been—get this—attacked by a shark. It was pretty ridiculous, but that was actually one of the more interesting cases of the trip. I'm never going on that ride again, though."

"Really? Because of the case?"

"No. Even without the body, that thing was downright freaky," Shinichi swore adamantly.

"You're afraid of sharks?" Kaito stifled a laugh, trying to remember how _he_ felt whenever someone laughed at him for the fish thing.

"Not regular sharks," the great detective clarified. "Just that freakishly large mechanical one. Things that are _that_ much bigger than me make me uncomfortable."

Kaito couldn't help laughing that time. He did, however, managed to restrain himself before he made a comment about how, in his current form, Shinichi must be uncomfortable a great deal of the time.

Conan _was_ a midget among midgets, after all.

"Kai-chan, you're so mean," Shinichi pouted, and Kaito could just picture the face that Conan was making.

"Sawwy, Shin-chan," Kaito cooed. "So what else happened on the trip…besides the dead bodies?"

"Hattori and Kazuha fought like children the whole time they were together, we ate a lot of good food, and we took a day trip into Kyoto." Shinichi continued with a shrug.

"Oh? How was it? I've got a friend who grew up there, and she always brags about it."

"It's interesting. Very pretty and very different from Tokyo." Shinichi gave a small chuckle. "Nobody died in Kyoto, so I just kind of got to relax and enjoy the scenery and all of the food."

"Well, I'm glad you got the day off; you deserve it."

"Thanks, Kaito."

There was a noise in the background that sounded a little bit like Mouri Ran calling for Conan.

"Hey, Kai-chan? I've gotta go, but we'll talk tomorrow, okay?" Shinichi whispered hastily. "I promise."

"See ya, Shinichi," Kaito chuckled as the line went dead.

They usually chatted like that for at least thirty minutes every day. When they weren't calling, they were texting, and it had gotten to the point where Kaito's phone was practically attached to his hand.

He found his heart beating a little faster whenever he got a text, and a grin broke out on his face whenever his phone rang.

Kaito was absolutely smitten, and he didn't know what to do about it. He wanted to see Shinichi, feel him, kiss him, and breath in his scent, but it just wasn't possible. He didn't know how Shinichi had gotten to be Edogawa Conan, but he was pretty sure that it was irreversible.

It was impossible for Kaito to see his love as Shinichi, so something drastic had to be done.

Kaito was well aware that his plan could easily backfire on him, so he prepared for the worst before he dropped by the Mouri Detective Agency the first Friday in October.

Ran-san opened the door, and, at first, as was expected, she thought Kaito was the missing detective, but the misunderstanding was quickly cleared up, and Kaito took a deep breath and crossed his fingers before he asked for Conan.

As the little tyke entered and looked surprised, Kaito explained to Ran that the two of them had met at a Kid heist and become friends.

"We were gonna go to the park and then get something to eat together, if that's okay, Ran-san. Sorry I didn't think to check with you first. I swear I'll have him back before dark."

"No, it's okay." Ran waved away his concerns with a smile. "You have fun, Conan-kun. Make sure you don't run off, and do as Kuroba-kun says, okay?"

"Yes, Ran-neechan," Conan called as he pulled Kaito out the door by the hand.

The little sleuth didn't stop until they'd reached a fairly empty park. Conan took a seat on one of the swings and motioned to the one next to his.

Kaito hesitantly sat down.

"I know who you are," the shrunken teen growled, dropping all pretense of childhood. "and you have some nerve coming to me disguised like that, Kid."

Kaito blinked. Oh. Honestly, he'd thought he'd given his true identity away the second he'd sent a picture of himself to his cousin back in June. He'd thought for sure that his brilliant Heisei Holmes would see him and instantly see through him. Apparently not.

"Here, Tantei-kun. Pull on my face." Kaito offered his cheek.

"There's no point. If you don't have to wear a mask to impersonate Shinichi, you wouldn't have to wear one for Kaito either," Conan snorted indignantly.

Kaito gave an exaggerated sigh. "Shin-chan, it's me. It's really me, and I know it's you. What? Do you want proof?"

Conan blinked, looking shocked for a moment before going back to glaring. "I don't believe you. Kaito wouldn't…Kaito isn't…" His brow furrowed as he started to second guess.

Kaito pushed back gently with his feet and began to swing slowly. "You want me to prove that I'm really Kuroba Kaito? Fine. Yesterday, I went over to Hakuba's house to hang out, and he and his housekeeper, Baaya, taught me how to make pineapple upside-down cake. I texted you about it. I think it was right after the one that said, 'Hakuba can be sweet sometimes, but other times he's a real twit.' but before 'How many bodies have you tripped over today, Shinigami-chan?' If you need more, I called you last night to complain about Aoko neglecting me so that she can spend more time following Akako-chan around like a sick puppy. Do you believe it's me yet, Shin-chan?" Kaito stopped swinging abruptly to give his little love a pleading look.

Conan's mouth was hanging open.

"Careful, Dear. You'll catch flies," Kaito chuckled nervously, still unsure about how his revelation would be received.

"_You're_ the Kaitou Kid? _You_, Kaito?" Conan gawked.

Kaito nodded. "Surprise?"

"What the hell's the matter with you?! You get shot at, and you could be arrested! Just what do you think you're f-ing doing?!" This protective, outraged side of Shinichi was new, and Kaito couldn't lie; he found it kind of sexy.

"It's complicated," Kaito whispered, checking for anyone who might be listening in. "It has to do with why my dad was killed and saving the world from this evil syndicate, but I can't tell you the details because I don't want you to get caught up in this. You look like you have enough problems as is, Shin-chan."

Ever the detective, Shinichi was strongly tempted to ask about this evil syndicate, but it wasn't the time or the place. "We'll talk about all that later," he swore to them both. "For now, what are you doing coming to visit me at the Mouri's, Kaito?"

Kaito blushed, smiling sheepishly as he began to swing again. "I've been wanting to see you…to hang out with you for four months now, but I knew there was no way that full-sized you was coming to visit me, so I decided to come and visit little you instead. Although I had to tip my hand a little to do so, but…it'll probably be worth it in the end. Are you not happy to see me?"

"That's not it at all," Shinichi assured, starting to swing lazily himself. "This whole time I've been trying to devise some kind of way for us to hang out, but…I'm okay with _this_ as long as you are."

"Really? I thought you'd freak and have me arrested on sight," Kaito chuckled softly, kicking his legs back and forth quickly as he reached the peak height of his swing.

"Then I couldn't chase you, you nut job," Conan snorted, smirking fondly at his rival. "Kid's a small fry as far as criminals go, and those heists are the best because they have all the fun mental challenges of a case without the downer of the dead body. Most of the time anyway."

"You know, the only times that someone's died on a heist were when you were there…well…except the Nightmare one, but…maybe you really are cursed."

"Don't say that," Conan whined like the eight-year-old he currently was.

"Poor Shinigami-chan," Kaito teased. "Come on. Let's go to an arcade and get some purikura pictures taken or something. My good luck will cancel out your bad. I promise…. But if it doesn't, you're buying me ice cream as compensation for having to see creepy dead stuff."

Conan just laughed and smiled up at his cousin. "Deal, but if it does, I'll buy you dinner as thanks for canceling out my curse."

"Of course, with your luck, the waiter will probably drop dead on our table," Kaito snickered.

"Don't even joke about that," Conan huffed, jumping out of his swing.

000

After that, Kaito spent at least two nights a week hanging out with his intended. They went bowling, played mini-golf, went to cafés, saw movies, hung out at parks, visited museums (where Conan kept an especially close eye on his klepto cousin), or sometimes just chilled at Kaito's house.

The play dates at Kaito's house were when Kaito got most of his cuddle time in. They'd curl up on the couch together and watch TV, read books, or just chat. Sometimes Shinichi convinced Kaito to watch some detective movie or soccer, but the Lupin DVD collection that Kaito'd gotten from Hakuba got its fair share of watching too.

Kid heists were the indisputable best for Kaito. It was like foreplay— the adrenaline, running, chasing, flirting, matching wits, trying to outdo one another. Kaito got absolutely high off of it.

The heists always left him sweaty, panting for breath, tired, sore, deliriously happy, and lusting for more. It was an exhilarating experience, to say the least.

He was in love, and it made him want to shout out to the heavens.

Everything about Shinichi made him giddy—the way the older teen smirked, the alluring way his bangs sometimes fell into his eyes, the slightest upward twitch of his lips, his laugh, his smile, his pouty face—all of it, and it was hard to keep it inside.

He had considered confessing the night of the Halloween party his mother had permitted him to throw, but Hakuba, Aoko, Keiko-chan, Akako-chan, and even Mouri Ran and Suzuki Sonoko had been annoyingly present that evening, constantly interrupting him just as he was about to profess his love.

He kind of lost his nerve in November. He'd begun doubting himself, wondering if Shinichi really did feel the same way.

It wasn't until the end of the second week in December when he finally got up the courage to do it.

It was a quiet night, and Kaito was over in Beika visiting Shin-chan while he house-sat for Professor Agasa who was at some kind of conference. Ai-chan had gone along in order to ensure that the good professor followed his diet, so they were quite alone in the cozy little laboratory home.

They were just curled up on the couch, sipping hot cocoa and watching the snow come down, sitting in silence.

Conversation wasn't really necessary; they were attuned to each other, and the silence was comfortable.

Shinichi gave a contented sigh, inching a little closer to Kaito.

It was then that Kaito decided it was time.

He had nothing to worry about. They were soulmates—made for each other, and he knew he was loved just as passionately (or at least somewhat close) as he himself loved.

"Shin-chan?"

Shinichi reluctantly pulled back slightly so that he could look up into his cousin's face. He made an inquisitive little noise, cocking his head cutely to the side.

"Shinichi, I've wanted to tell you for a while, but…I'm in love with you," the magician whispered softly, a warm, stupid-in-love grin lighting up his face.

….

\./

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Mikau: It's a TV set! Yes, I know I used it on Thursday in the Come to Taunt Me? chapter, but I've become fond of it. Well, that's the end. It's technically continued in the third chapter of The Cost of Being Considerate? but hardcore KaiShin fans will probably want to stop here and imagine a really heartwarming scene in which Shin-chan says yes and they kiss passionately. Speaking of The Cost of Being Considerate? the next chapter should be out on Thursday with the CTM chapter. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get the Trapped in the Twilight chapter out this week. It doesn't seem to be very popular, so I kind of put it on the back burner while I finished up this and CBC. Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for sticking with me to the end. Thanks for your support, and I hope to see you again in one of my other fics! Take care!


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